"He's a desperate politician," Capitano said, adding that the polls show the candidates are in a "dead heat." Capitano responded on his Web site, www.votephilcapitano.com, to the allegations in the Yenni mailer, which purports to tell "the true story of Capitano's political deception."

"All of the things in there were sourced," Yenni said after his opponent's news conference. "Mr. Capitano's spreading lies about me. I'm just reminiding people about the truth about him."

He said he has debated Capitano a dozen times already, and wouldn't comply with Capitano's new debate challenge. "It is the Friday before the election," he said. "I guess the next thing he'll want to do is postpone the election."